Practice Areas

Environmental Impact of Lowering Tariffs on Green Goods Being Examined by USTR

Friday, December 18, 2015

Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg Trade Report

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is initiating an environmental review of the Environmental Goods Agreement, a plurilateral trade agreement currently being negotiated among 17 members of the World Trade Organization. USTR is accepting through Feb. 1, 2016, public comments on the topics that should be included in the scope of this review, including potential positive or negative environmental effects that might result from the EGA. USTR also welcomes input on appropriate methodologies and sources of data for conducting the review.

The purpose of environmental reviews is to ensure that policymakers and the public are informed about reasonably foreseeable environmental impacts of trade agreements (both positive and negative), to identify complementarities between trade and environmental objectives, and to help shape appropriate responses if environmental impacts are identified. Reviews are intended to be one tool for integrating environmental information and analysis into the process of trade negotiations.